S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   9505
 
                           I N  A S S E M B L Y
 
                              March 10, 2022
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  M. of A. WALKER, TAYLOR -- read once and referred to the
   Committee on Higher Education
 
 AN ACT to amend the education law, in  relation  to  prohibiting  legacy
   preference  and  early decision admission policies at higher education
   institutions in this state
 
   THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

   Section  1.  Short  title. This act may be known and shall be cited as
 the "fair college admissions act".
   § 2. Legislative intent. a. The legislature hereby  finds  that  there
 are  significant  income  gains  associated with postsecondary education
 degree attainment, with New  York  state  residents  with  a  bachelor's
 degree three times less likely to live in poverty than those with a high
 school diploma.
   b. The legislature further finds that students who attend and graduate
 from a highly selective higher education institution in the state of New
 York  are  much  more likely to earn salaries in the top income quintile
 than those who graduate from  less  selective  institutions,  furthering
 economic and social inequality.
   c.  The  legislature  further  finds that within most highly selective
 higher education institutions in New York state, degree completion rates
 for students from low-income and working class  family  backgrounds  are
 comparable to students from upper-income family backgrounds.
   d.  The legislature further finds that many four-year higher education
 institutions in New York state consider whether a prospective student is
 related to alumni as part of the admissions process.
   e. The legislature further finds that providing preferential treatment
 to students related to alumni  of  a  higher  education  institution  is
 discriminatory  in nature and disproportionately hurts students who come
 from working class and low-income families, have  parents  who  did  not
 earn  a  bachelor's  degree,  are  undocumented, are immigrants, and are
 members of historically underrepresented minority groups formerly denied
 entry into specific higher education institutions either as a matter  of
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD14861-03-2
              

 A. 9505                             2
 
 institution  policy or the effect of historic underlying law and govern-
 ment practices.
   f.  The  legislature  further finds that 30 percent of bachelor degree
 granting institutions in the state of New York currently employ an early
 decision admissions policy that allows students to apply in the fall  of
 their  senior  year  and  receive an application decision by December in
 exchange for committing to attend  that  institution  and  foregoing  an
 opportunity  to  compare  financial  aid  packages  offered by competing
 institutions of higher education.
   g. The legislature further finds that at a number of higher  education
 institutions,  particularly highly selective institutions with low admit
 rates, between 40 and 50 percent of enrolled students are admitted early
 decision, and early decision applicants are more than twice as likely to
 be admitted.
   h. The legislature further finds that early decision  admission  poli-
 cies  are  discriminatory  in nature, as they favor students with strong
 college advising and the ability to commit to a  college  or  university
 without  considering  a financial aid package. They put first-generation
 students, students at under-resourced high schools,  and  students  from
 working  class and low-income backgrounds at a disadvantage because they
 lack awareness of the strategic benefit of applying early  decision  and
 do  not  have the luxury of committing to an institution without knowing
 the post-financial aid cost of attendance.
   i. The legislature further finds that inequitable,  unfair  admissions
 policies  and practices such as legacy preference and early decision are
 a significant factor behind  disparities  in  college  enrollment  among
 students  from  historically  underserved  racial and economic subgroups
 compared to their more advantaged peers at  selective  higher  education
 institutions.
   j.  The legislature hereby declares that a prohibition on legacy pref-
 erence  and  early  decision  admissions  policies  at   degree-granting
 colleges and universities in the state shall further the goals of educa-
 tional,  economic, and social equity, helping to diversify highly selec-
 tive institutions while closing achievement  gaps  between  historically
 advantaged  and  disadvantaged groups, and shall commit to achieving the
 same with the following provisions of this act.
   § 3. The education law is amended by adding a  new  section  239-d  to
 read as follows:
   § 239-D. PROHIBITION ON LEGACY PREFERENCE AND EARLY DECISION ADMISSION
 POLICIES.  1.  DEFINITIONS. AS USED IN THIS SECTION, THE FOLLOWING TERMS
 SHALL HAVE THE FOLLOWING MEANINGS:
   (A) "CONSIDER ALUMNI/AE RELATION AS  A  FACTOR  IN  ADMISSIONS"  SHALL
 REFER  TO  WHEN  AN  ADMISSIONS  APPLICATION ASKS APPLICANTS TO INDICATE
 WHERE THEIR RELATIVES ATTENDED COLLEGE  AND  THAT  SUCH  INFORMATION  IS
 INCLUDED  AMONG THE DOCUMENTS THAT THE HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTION USES
 TO CONSIDER AN APPLICANT FOR ADMISSION.
   (B) "EARLY ACTION" SHALL MEAN AN ADMISSIONS PLAN THAT ALLOWS A STUDENT
 TO APPLY AT AN EARLIER STAGE OF THE ADMISSIONS PROCESS  AND  RECEIVE  AN
 EXPEDITED  ADMISSIONS  DECISION  BUT  DOES  NOT  REQUIRE SUCH STUDENT TO
 COMMIT TO ATTEND SUCH INSTITUTION UPON RECEIVING A  DECISION  OF  ADMIT-
 TANCE.
   (C)  "EARLY  DECISION"  SHALL  MEAN  AN  ADMISSIONS PLAN THAT ALLOWS A
 STUDENT TO APPLY AT AN EARLIER  STAGE  OF  THE  ADMISSIONS  PROCESS  AND
 RECEIVE  AN  EXPEDITED  ADMISSIONS  DECISION THAT REQUIRES SUCH STUDENT,
 ABSENT UNIQUE CIRCUMSTANCES STIPULATED IN THE EARLY DECISION APPLICATION
 OR OTHERWISE AGREED TO BY THE INSTITUTION, TO COMMIT TO ATTEND A  HIGHER
 A. 9505                             3
 
 EDUCATION  INSTITUTION  SHOULD  SUCH STUDENT BE ADMITTED AND TO WITHDRAW
 ALL OTHER APPLICATIONS TO OTHER HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS.
   (D)  "HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTION" SHALL MEAN THE STATE UNIVERSITY OF
 NEW YORK, AS DEFINED IN SUBDIVISION ONE OF SECTION THREE HUNDRED  FIFTY-
 TWO  OF THIS CHAPTER, THE CITY UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK, AS ESTABLISHED IN
 SECTION SIXTY-TWO HUNDRED THREE OF  THIS  CHAPTER,  OR  ANY  INSTITUTION
 GIVEN  THE POWER TO CONFER DEGREES IN THIS STATE BY THE BOARD OF REGENTS
 AS PROVIDED IN SECTION TWO HUNDRED EIGHTEEN OF THIS ARTICLE.
   (E) "LEGACY PREFERENCE" SHALL MEAN A PREFERENCE IN ADMISSIONS GIVEN BY
 A HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTION TO APPLICANTS RELATED BY CONSANGUINITY OR
 AFFINITY TO ALUMNI OF SUCH INSTITUTION.
   2. PROHIBITION. NO HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTION IN THIS STATE SHALL:
   (A) CONSIDER ALUMNI/AE RELATION AS A FACTOR IN ADMISSIONS; OR
   (B) EXECUTE AN EARLY DECISION  POLICY  FOR  UNDERGRADUATE  ADMISSIONS.
 SUCH  PROHIBITION SHALL NOT APPLY, HOWEVER, TO A HIGHER EDUCATION INSTI-
 TUTION THAT ASKS APPLICANTS ABOUT RELATIONS TO ALUMNI OF  SUCH  INSTITU-
 TION AFTER AN OFFER OF ADMISSION AND FINANCIAL AID HAS BEEN ACCEPTED FOR
 THE  PURPOSES OF DATA COLLECTION AND REPORTING.  FURTHERMORE, THE PROHI-
 BITION HEREIN DESCRIBED SHALL NOT BE CONSTRUED  TO  APPLY  TO  AN  EARLY
 ACTION  POLICY  AS  DEFINED  IN PARAGRAPH (B) OF SUBDIVISION ONE OF THIS
 SECTION.
   3. PENALTY. A VIOLATION OF  SUBDIVISION  TWO  OF  THIS  SECTION  SHALL
 RESULT  IN  A  CIVIL  PENALTY  OF A SUM EQUIVALENT TO TEN PERCENT OF THE
 NUMBER OF FULL-TIME EQUIVALENT FIRST YEAR STUDENTS ENROLLED AT THE HIGH-
 ER EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTION THE YEAR PREVIOUS TO THE VIOLATION MULTIPLIED
 BY SUCH INSTITUTION'S PUBLISHED TUITION AND FEES.
   4. DEDICATION OF PENALTY FUNDS. ALL PENALTIES PAID PURSUANT TO  SUBDI-
 VISION  THREE  OF THIS SECTION SHALL BE ASSESSED BY THE COMMISSIONER AND
 DEPOSITED INTO THE GENERAL FUND OF THE STATE.  SUCH MONIES SHALL THEN BE
 USED FOR THE DISBURSEMENT OF TUITION ASSISTANCE  AWARDS  BY  THE  HIGHER
 EDUCATION SERVICES CORPORATION TO ELIGIBLE UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS PURSU-
 ANT  TO  THE  PROVISIONS  OF SECTIONS SIX HUNDRED SIXTY-SIX, SIX HUNDRED
 SIXTY-SEVEN, SIX HUNDRED SIXTY-SEVEN-A, AND SIX HUNDRED SIXTY SEVEN-C OF
 THIS CHAPTER.
   § 4. This act shall take effect on the first of July  next  succeeding
 the date on which it shall have become a law.  Effective immediately the
 addition, amendment, and/or repeal of any rules or regulations necessary
 for  the implementation of this act on its effective date are authorized
 to be made on or before such effective date.